7
TATE
Dad didn’t look at me all morning long.
During breakfast, he strictly kept his eyes on his food, while Mom and Ronan continued their argument from last night.
I couldn’t listen to them anymore. It was exhausting, and they had never been this annoyed with each other, ever. At this point, they probably didn’t even remember why they were arguing.
Once I was done with my breakfast, I got up from the table and put my plate into the sink. Without saying a word, I went into the bedroom to change into the clothes I had picked out earlier.
Dad and I were going to the store in town, and I wanted to wear something I knew he would like. He always told me how pretty I looked wearing dresses, but because it was too cold for that, I decided on my best pair of jeans that I brought from home. The ones that hugged my hips and ass perfectly to show off my curves.
On top, I chose a simple, white sweater, a red scarf, and a black leather jacket.
For shoes, I chose my New Balance sneakers that were off-white from being worn too often, but clean enough to still look good with this outfit.
I left my face make-up-free, and I brushed my hair quickly, letting it fall over my shoulders and down my back without styling it. It was perfect the way it was, and I rarely had to do anything to it to make it look good.
After I was done and had checked myself in the mirror for a few minutes, I headed out of the bedroom to see if Dad was ready too. He was standing by the cabin’s front door, with his jacket on his arm, and his eyes fixed on the phone in his hand.
“Are you ready to go, Dad?” I asked.
He looked up and nodded. “Yes, I’m ready.”
“Don’t forget the broccoli!” Mom called out from the kitchen.
“I won’t! You added it to the list you sent me, darling.”
“Good. See you two later!”
I smiled at Dad, excited to spend time with him alone. “Let’s go.”
We headed outside and got into the car and drove off. The radio was on, and we didn’t talk to each other until the silence became unbearable for me.
Looking over at him, I studied him for a while, wondering what he was frowning about. “Is everything okay, Dad?”
I saw him come out of his trance and blinked a few times before he shot me a look. “Yes, everything’s fine.”
“You look upset. Is it because of Mom and Ronan arguing all the time?”
“No.”
I pursed my lips and dug deeper. “Is it because of what we did last night?”
“We didn’t do anything last night, Tate.”
Right…we’re back to denying everything.
I wasn’t going to let that slide this time. How dare he ignore his feelings for me?
I turned toward him in my seat and reached over to place my hand on his thigh. “Dad, you can talk to me. I know how you feel about me. We’ve been over this before, so I would really like to understand why you’re acting this way now.”
I kept my hand on his thigh, and I felt his body tense.
His jaw clenched, and he gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands.
He didn’t answer.
He kept his eyes on the road ahead of him.
“Daddy…” I sighed and tried to move closer, but with the seatbelt holding me back, I couldn’t. “I think you feel this way because you have to suppress your feelings for me in front of Mom and Ronan. They can’t know about us, I know that, but in situations like this one, you should take advantage of us being alone.”
He took a deep breath. I wasn’t trying to manipulate him into thinking a certain way, but how else was I supposed to make him see that we were meant to be?
I watched him relax. My words had an effect on him.
The car slowed down, and he stopped at the side of the road. We were in the middle of the forest, still a long way from the nearest town.
Once he turned off the car, he ran both hands through his hair before turning toward me. “I need you to answer me two questions,” he said.
“Okay.”
“You’re aware that we can never let anyone know about the things we talked about, and the things we did, right?”
I quickly nodded. “I know.”
“Good.” He studied me before asking the second question. One that would hurt me more than I could’ve ever imagined. “And you know that we can never be what you want us to be, yes?”
I nodded again, swallowed hard. “Yes.” My voice was shaky and my eyes started to water. “But I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”
“I know, Tate. We don’t have a choice though. But…” He rested his elbow on the car door and covered his face with his hand as he took a long break. “If you promise not to tell anyone—”
“I won’t. I promise. I would never. This is between us.”
He looked at me again, his brows furrowed. “I’m serious here, Tate. We can’t let anyone know about the things we do.”
“I know. I promise nobody will ever know. I need you, Dad. You know I do.” I was so emotional that I could’ve started crying, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to overwhelm him even more than I already had.
He reached out his hand and cupped the side of my head, pushing his fingers through my hair as his eyes dropped to my lips. “Your mind is twisted. Yet, I always told you not to let your mind go there.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help it. But you feel the same, no?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t dare to admit it, but I knew I was right.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I can feel your love. That’s all that matters.” I smiled and put my hand on his wrist, gently rubbing my thumb on his skin. “I love you, Daddy. So much.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
His words made my heart skip a beat. Hearing him say those words was all I needed to be happy.
He kept his hand on my face, gently caressing my cheek with his thumb while he looked into my eyes. We were both quiet, but our silence spoke louder than words ever could.
When he leaned in, I wasn’t expecting much because all the other times he did that, he wouldn’t kiss me. This time, he surprised me in the best way possible. His mouth covered mine, pulling me into a deep and sensual kiss. I held my breath, needing a moment to realize what was happening. But once I snapped out of it, I melted into him and enjoyed every second of this kiss.
It didn’t last as long as I hoped it would, and when he moved back again, we looked at each other.
“We can’t be gone for too long,” he told me, brushing back a strand of my hair.
I didn’t argue. We’d have this morning with each other, and once we’d get back to the cabin, I was sure things would change. At least to the point where we could show each other some affection, hidden from the others.
***
My lips were still tingling from our kiss earlier in the car, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t stay away from him in the store. Hell, I didn’t want to stay away. Not when we were alone.
While Dad was pushing the cart, I walked right next to him, with my hand hooked around his arm. We kept putting things into the cart, not really following Mom’s grocery list that she sent Dad.
When we stopped in the snack aisle, I turned away from him to study all the chips in front of us. “I’ll pick something Ronan will like too. Maybe these?” I asked, pointing at paprika flavored chips.
Dad came up behind me, and he put his arms around me while resting his chin on my head. “He’ll eat anything.”
That was true.
God, I couldn’t focus.
His hands were on my stomach, and his body was pressed against my back. I leaned more into him, needing to stay like this forever.
The snacks became secondary as I melted in his arms, and I rested my head against his chest, enjoying every second of it.
I didn’t care about the fact that we were standing in the middle of a grocery store, but nobody knew us here, and I didn’t care who’d see.
“Maybe those,” Dad then said, breaking the comfortable silence. He moved one hand off me and reached for a pack, and I shrugged, letting him know that I didn’t care about the chips. Not anymore.
He put them into the cart, then his arms came around me again. This time, he turned me around and pulled me to him, making me look up at him.
I smiled, wondering what he was thinking. He had a frown between his brows, and he watched me for a while before leaning in to kiss me. At that point, I didn’t care about what he was thinking anymore. All I wanted from him was this.
His attention.
His touch.
His love.
And he was giving it to me without me having to ask for it.
Because we were alone. That was the only reason why.
Therefore, I needed to find a way to get him alone more often.
I would make that happen though.
And I had a feeling that he would try his best to make it happen too.
I put my arms around his neck and let him kiss me passionately. He pushed his tongue into my mouth, curling it around mine, and making me moan every time he ran his hand over my ass.
He cupped it with one hand and kept his other on my waits to hold me close. He deepened the kiss even more, and I pushed my hands into his hair, not caring who could see us.
This town was small, and not many people were in the grocery store when we entered, but I could hear people walking around and passed us as we kissed.
When he broke the kiss, his face was softer, and the crease was gone. “Let’s continue,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Can we maybe eat lunch in town while we’re here anyway? I saw a diner on the way here.”
“We’ll see. Come on.”
He took my hand and hooked it around his arm again, and we continued to shop. He took his time, and he wasn’t rushing things, making me believe that he wanted to spend as much time with me alone as he possibly could.
But even this morning would come to an end.